Facing Yan Zhen’s skepticism, Yu Shizun spoke without so much as glancing sideways.
“If you’re worried, then don’t bother treating her.”
It was clear from her tone that Yu Shizun didn’t really want Yan Zhen to take this risk.
Yan Zhen scratched his cheek and glanced at Dean Little Aunt and Long Ying nearby. He coughed twice and began undressing until he was down to just his Long-Trunked Little Elephant Boxer Shorts.
“Is this okay?”
Dean Yu Qing and Long Ying both widened their eyes, staring intently at Yan Zhen’s physique.
It wasn’t the first time they’d seen it, but they simply couldn’t tear their gazes away—especially Long Ying. She shyly covered her face with one hand, though her fingers were splayed wide open, making her stare even bolder than Dean Yu Qing’s.
Yu Shizun glanced over as well, but her thoughts involuntarily flashed back to the scene she’d walked in on before, of him making love with Xuan’er. Her expression unchanged, she looked away.
“Get in. Sit behind Bailan and hold her.”
Yan Zhen was growing increasingly suspicious. What was the point of this? In the script, he and Mentor Aunt had stayed separate, and he’d cured her just fine.
But there was no room for argument, so Yan Zhen did as Yu Shizun instructed.
He stepped into the bathtub, squeezed in behind Mentor Aunt, and sat down. Then he spread his legs, wrapped his arms around her slender waist, and drew her warm, supple, jade-like body against his chest—like a pair of lovers sharing a bath.
This was the usual position whenever he bathed with Mentor Yu Xuan. Sometimes she’d even hold him like that, treating him as her obedient disciple.
From his vantage point, he had a perfect view of her voluptuous front.
The breathtaking swell of her peaks, the intoxicating fragrance filling his nostrils, the softness right there for the taking—it all stirred the passions of the hot-blooded youth. For a fleeting moment, he nearly treated her just like Mentor Yu Xuan, leaning in to kiss her while cupping her breasts.
“…”
Shui Bailan felt herself enveloped in a warm embrace. The excruciating pain forced her eyes open, where they met Yan Zhen’s. Only then did she register their position, and her heart began to race.
“Yan Zhen?”
Yan Zhen hurried to reassure her. “Don’t worry, Auntie. I won’t touch you anywhere inappropriate.”
Shui Bailan shook her head. “You don’t need to take this risk for my sake. If anything happens to you, how could I ever face Xuan’er again?”
Yan Zhen flashed a carefree smile. “Since I’m the only one who can help Auntie, of course I have to. If I just stood by and watched you suffer, how could I face Mentor Yu Xuan?”
“You and your glib tongue,” she said. “You seem so obedient, but you’re not really—and you always manage to anger Dean Yu Qing.”
Why the sudden scolding?
“Auntie, I’m just making sense here.”
Shui Bailan managed a pale smile. “Twisted sense, you mean.”
Yan Zhen could tell she was trying to diffuse the awkwardness of their bare skin pressed together in such an intimate pose through small talk. He chuckled and turned to Yu Shizun for the next instruction.
“Cut a three-inch gash right under Bailan’s black spot,” Yu Shizun said flatly. “Deep enough to reach the flesh. Then cut your own palm and let the blood flow.”
Yan Zhen nodded and leaned close to Mentor Aunt’s ear. “Bear with it just a bit, Auntie.”
Shui Bailan gave a wry smile. “I’m already hurting so bad I could cry. What’s one more cut?”
The spot under her breast was completely obscured by those heaving snow-white mounds, leaving no line of sight. Yan Zhen released his spiritual power and shaped it into a razor-sharp blade of Extreme Flame Mystic Power, slicing into the blackened skin where the Gu worm lurked.
Fresh red blood welled up from the wound at first, then gradually took on a faint black tinge.
Yan Zhen sliced open his own left palm next, letting his blood drip into the water.
They just needed to keep this up for about half an hour.
Afterward, he’d refine some pills to clear out any remnants, and the Heart-Devouring Gu’s poison would be gone for good.
But Yu Shizun issued another order. “Press your cut left palm over Bailan’s wound. It’ll be more efficient that way.”
Does it really need to be this efficient?
As the thought crossed his mind, Yu Shizun added, “Hurry it up. The sooner the treatment’s done, the less she’ll suffer.”
Yan Zhen blinked—fair enough. He lifted his bleeding left hand and gently pressed it over Mentor Aunt’s wound. His index finger and thumb brushed the underside of her full breast, cradling its weight like a pedestal.
“Mm~”
Shui Bailan let out a sharp cry of pain. She could feel the Gu worm inside her growing agitated—not crawling toward her heart, but scrambling backward in a frenzy, desperate to burrow out of her body. It followed the male Gu’s scent straight to Yan Zhen’s wounded palm, seeking to merge with its counterpart inside him.
“Ah… ah—”
The searing agony overwhelmed her. She groaned in broken bursts, her voice thick with torment, enough to set anyone’s teeth on edge just from listening.
Dean Yu Qing no longer felt any envy. Heart aching for her close friend, she clutched Long Ying’s shoulders.
Even carefree Long Ying creased her brows, her emerald eyes brimming with pity. “Hang in there, Auntie! Yan Zhen Zhen will cure you~”
Yan Zhen couldn’t stand watching. “Yu Shizun, is there any way to ease Auntie’s pain?”
“Worry about yourself,” Yu Shizun replied coolly. “Soon your pain will be several times worse than hers.”
Yan Zhen blinked in confusion. What? That’s not in the script.
Yu Shizun continued without a flicker of expression. “Easing a girl’s suffering isn’t what you’re best at? Just treat Bailan the way you do Xuan’er.”
Treat her like Xuan’er? Yan Zhen paused, realization dawning.
…On second thought, no.
He broke into a sweat. Yu Shizun’s attitude felt downright odd—like she was egging him on to take liberties with Mentor Aunt. That couldn’t be right, could it?
But her pained moans kept coming, and Yan Zhen couldn’t bear it. His free right hand began stroking her waist, sliding gently up and down.
The touch was too light to override the pain.
Gritting his teeth, Yan Zhen let his hand glide higher along her side until it slipped under her arm, grasping a generous handful.
Shui Bailan’s groans softened into something far more delicate. Her deep blue eyes turned to Yan Zhen, a strange new emotion gathering in their depths.
“Yan… Yan Zhen…”
“It feels better—Mm!”
Her words cut off as his mouth met hers.
Shui Bailan shut her eyes once more, as if she could block out the reality of kissing her young little uncle-in-law.
Yan Zhen didn’t dare kiss back. He simply endured it passively.
Dean Yu Qing gaped in shock, on the verge of yelling, “You little punk, what do you think you’re doing?” But a sharp glance from Yu Shizun silenced her. Could… could that actually be part of the treatment?
Long Ying watched with burning envy. She spent a good while comparing sizes before concluding that hers—now restored—were bigger and better. Only then did she relax.
Half an hour passed. Yan Zhen began to feel the pain building sharply inside him, his limbs growing leaden. Shui Bailan, by contrast, no longer looked quite so ghastly pale; the black spot under her breast had faded considerably.
Another half hour went by. Color returned to Shui Bailan’s cheeks, and the black mark had nearly vanished. Yan Zhen’s face, however, had gone ashen, a similar blotch now staining the skin near his chest.
“Bailan’s out of danger,” Yu Shizun said quickly. “Yan Zhen, circulate your Extreme Flames right now and refine the Gu worm inside you.”
No sooner had she spoken than Yan Zhen unleashed the Emperor Flame Technique. He circulated all three Extreme Flames at once, flooding his limbs and torso. They rampaged through him like wild stallions, incinerating the Gu worm in a frenzy.
Whoosh.
There in the steaming bath, the youth held the naked beauty with one arm while forming seals with the other. Three-colored flames enveloped them both.
